#Review: A White Christmas on Winter Street by Sue Moorcroft @SueMoorcroft @AvonBooksUK @rararesources #blogtour #romance #Christmasread #AWhiteChristmasonWinterStreet

I’m really delighted today to be joining the blog tour (at last!) for the latest book from Sue Moorcroft, A White Christmas on Winter Street, and sharing my review. Published on 27th October by Avon Books, it’s now available as an ebook (via Amazon in the UK – just 99p – and US for kindle, also for Kobo and via Apple), in paperback (via Amazon if you want to – where it’s just £3 at the moment – or via Bookshop.org, your favourite bricks and mortar bookshop, or while you’re picking up your groceries in the supermarket), and also as an audiobook. Thank you, as always, to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my advance reading e-copy, provided via netgalley.

Shall I tell you again that I’m a massive fan of Sue Moorcroft’s writing? If you enter her name in the search box on the right hand side of the page, you’ll find reviews of just about every book she’s ever written – I find her books totally irresistible, whether one of her summer ones infused with warm Mediterranean sunshine or with deep snow over the top of my wellies. Her story-telling is just wonderful, her characters always so well developed, the romantic content is always everything I want it to be, and I particularly enjoy the contemporary edge to her stories and the way she so perfectly balances light and shade. But I’ve always had a particularly soft spot for her Christmas books, particularly when she sets them in Middledip – I know I’ve said many times before that she always makes me want to bring in the tree and start stringing up the fairy lights (OK, I’ll wait a bit – I know it’s only just November!). But as soon as I saw this blurb and lovely cover… goodness, I was so looking forward to this one!

When Sky Terran returns to the village of Middledip after losing the job she loves, she anticipates a quiet Christmas getting used to her new life. However, the annual street decoration competition is coming up and this year, the residents of Winter Street are determined to win.

 

As she is pulled into the preparations, Sky quickly grows to love the quirky, tight-knit community she is now part of. Including the extremely handsome Daz, who soon becomes more than just a friendly neighbour.

 

But when Daz’s ex turns up determined to win him back and it seems he might not be the man Sky thought he was, she remembers how much allowing people into her life – and heart – can hurt. As the snow falls, will she and Daz find a way through – and help win a Christmas victory for Winter Street?

If there was a scale against which you could rate a book for its sheer Christmasiness, this lovely one would be a guaranteed 10/10 – it had just everything I could have possibly wanted. When Sky moves into the neglected house – with its dreadfully overgrown garden – on the corner of Middledip’s Winter Street, she knows she has a lot of work to do to get it into shape for the Christmas street decoration competition. Everyone else is stringing up their sparkly lights – she’s wielding a saw and lopper and firing up her big red shredder, hoping she’s not going to let the street down on the night of the Big Switch-On (especially those rather scary ladies from the organising committee).

Fuelled by neighbour Marietta’s mugs of hot chocolate and double-chocolate-chip cookies – if you’ve been to Middledip before, you’ll already know how the community pulls together – she also finds that others who might have had their reasons not to be quite as welcoming are more than happy to muck in too. And as Christmas draws nearer, she has the opportunity to join in with other village activities and return a few of the favours, and it looks as if she might just have rather more friends around the dining table than she ever expected.

But there’s a lot more to this lovely book than that frenzied lead-up to Christmas – and if you’ve read any of Sue Moorcroft’s other books, you’ll already know how clever she is at weaving in an issue or two (or often several more). There’s a strong and particularly poignant back story to Sky’s attachment to Middledip – a particularly harsh childhood, made bearable by the care and loving home provided by foster mum Nan Heather, and her closeness to almost-brother Freddy. But there’s a nasty bit of betrayal and skullduggery that sees her walking away from her close friendship with Freddy and her job within his business (aargh – Minnie!) – although she finds she’s not as alone as she fears as she embarks on her new life.

Of course, there’s a rather lovely romance – that starts as an unlikely and supportive friendship before it heats up nicely, although there are so many obstacles along the way (I could insert another “aargh” here… Daz’s ex!) that it rather looks like it’s over before it’s properly started. And there’s a nice proportion of the story told from Daz’s viewpoint, as he negotiates the various minefields in his life, trying to do the right thing for everyone – he’s a rather lovely guy, and really worked for me as the flawed romantic hero. And something else I really liked about this story was the focus on Sky’s green credentials – the second hand tools and furniture, the recycling of the debris from her garden efforts, the solar powered lights, and the nurturing of wildlife with the home-made decorations on her tamed trees (a hack I’d rather like to try…).

Sky herself is a beautifully drawn character, lovely both inside and out, but there’s a really strong supporting cast too – a few Middledip residents you’d recognise from other visits (but nothing to worry about if you haven’t visited before), and others who go on to play a significant part in Sky’s life. There are family issues, friendships old and new, an abundance of kindness and love… and I think I really must give a special mention to young Wilf, one of my favourite youngsters in a book in a very long time. Despite his situation (which can’t help bring a tear at times), his “very Wilfness” and excess enthusiasm constantly brought a smile to my face – although his high energy approach to life certainly brings some moments of real drama too.

Add an abundance of snow, some sparkling lights, the scent of cinnamon on the air, and that perfect emotional touch the author unfailingly has – heartwarming and uplifting, this really is one of those perfect Christmas reads, and I absolutely loved it. One of my books of the year – just make sure you add it to your Christmas reading list too!

About the author

Sue Moorcroft is a Sunday Times bestselling author and has reached the coveted #1 spot on Amazon Kindle UK as well as top 100 in the US. She’s won the Goldsboro Books Contemporary Romantic Novel Award, Readers’ Best Romantic Novel award and the Katie Fforde Bursary. Sue’s emotionally compelling, feel-good novels are currently released by publishing giant HarperCollins in the UK, US and Canada and by other publishers in other countries. Her short stories, serials, columns, writing ‘how to’ and courses have appeared around the world.

Born in Germany into an army family, Sue spent much of her childhood in Cyprus and Malta but settled in Northamptonshire, England aged ten. She loves reading, Formula 1, travel, time spent with friends, dance exercise and yoga.

For more information on Sue and her books, she has an excellent website, and a blog: she also has a Facebook author page, and you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram. If you’d like sign up for her newsletter, you can do so here: and if you’d like to join her street team, you’ll find the details here.